Pros
Very nice people, good perks (coffee, food, soda, tea, company events), nice new office in Sunset Hills, casual work environment.
Cons
Poor management level employees, very little strategic work, poor pay, brand arrogance blinds management and employees, not much collaboration, very little strategic vision, training obsolete, no process excellence to be found throughout the company, company very biased toward young employees/ age discrimination. Panera's St. Louis headquarters is a place for young people to get employed but unfortunately they will not be able to grow or learn much. HR - leadership and competence is non existent, poor learning environment, no vision, lack of training. HR is a back office "personnel department" and not a strategic HR business partner. I was amazed at how little HR employees knew about strategic HR initiatives, process improvement, and HR specializations (benefits, comp, recruiting). Overall, HR is a reflection of the current HR VP and will likely remain in the "dark ages" until a leadership change is made.